Rasheed Wallace: First contact

As expected, the Spurs have reached out to unrestricted free agent Rasheed Wallace. At this point, less than 24 hours into free agency, it is difficult to handicap the race for his services.

Boston, Cleveland and perhaps even Dallas are believed to be among the teams queuing up to talk to the soon-to-be 35-year-old center. Each of those teams have the same amount to spend — the roughly $5.6 million mid-level exception — so it will probably come down to how the offers are structured over the long term.

Wallace made $13.9 million with Detroit last season, but won’t be able to approach that figure on the open market this summer.

Bill Strickland, Wallace’s agent, would not confirm this morning that talks had commenced between the Spurs and his client. He did, however, indicate he expected the Spurs to be in the hunt.

“There’s interest, mutual interest, I would say,” Strickland said. “I would say the Spurs have a job to do.”

The Spurs’ interest in Wallace has been ongoing. As with Richard Jefferson, they poked around Wallace at last season’s trade deadline.